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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Hi all—Here’s another article from the local paper about the achievement issue, and this time from a retired state legislator. Notice how he draws attention to the word “INSTRUCTION” by capitalizing the whole
word!! This is a very important point he’s making; that is, he’s saying that we as a nation need to be focusing on INSTRUCTION and not on all the other factors that distract districts away from the most important variable that can affect student performance
(INSTRUCTION, and the right kinds of instruction). After seeing this article, I have renewed hope that people are starting to focus on student learning and not on distal variables like should we have middle schools or junior high schools.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I’ve also attached another article that Dan Boudah shared with me. It shows the results of interventions used by school districts with elementary students
<u>prior</u> to the pandemic. Interventions like an extended school day and smaller class size are certainly distal variables that may or may not have anything to do with instruction. Tutoring and summer school may or may not include the types of explicit
instruction that students need to “catch up.” In other words, districts will need encouragement to adopt validated types of instruction instead of adopting venues (e.g., summer school) that might not help students. That’s where you all come in! You have the
knowledge and skills to help people create summer school programs and Strategic Tutoring Programs where students learn reading and writing strategies, for example.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I hope you enjoy these articles and that you’re having a great summer! Jean<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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